Slumdog Millionaire

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Post by Okri »

flipp525 wrote:
Okri wrote:
Hustler wrote:I´ve just seen Slumdog Millionaire and I liked it a lot. There is no comparison with TCCOBB. Boyle´s film is clearly a better film.

Agreed. Fincher knows how to use a camera and all, but his ability to create interesting characters and story is seriously lacking.


I found the characters in Slumdog Millionaire to be rather uninteresting, frankly. This "deep connection" between Jamal and Latika I was supposed to be rooting for felt inorganic and unearned. It's an uplifting story, in a Dickensian way, but the actors weren't skilled enough to convey anything that wasn't on the page.

Even the most stereotypical, stock character in Button (Queenie) had more going on for me than the central pair in Boyle's film. Daisy (and particularly Cate Blanchett's interpretation of her) downright fascinated me.
Yeah, I can see the complaints regarding characters in Slumdog Millionaire - the film isn't that concerned with adding layers or depth to the roles (though I thought what we got was enough). But I found Henson's mammy annoying (despite her warmth as an actress), the romance between Daisy and Benjamin one-note and lacking in anything of interest and even Benjamin's plight is boring, beyond the hook.

I'd argue both Fincher and Boyle's film have flaws, but where Boyle makes up for it in sheer MOVIE bliss (the energy, enthusiasm and excitement this film generates is palpable, and I've seen it several times), whereas Fincher's film plods along so slowly (and indeed, loses a lot of impact because it doesn't seem to explore it's themes or characters in any reasonable way). You could argue the same of Slumdog, and I'd listen (and slightly agree), but I think it matters more in Benjamin Button, which is just empty.
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Post by FilmFan720 »

flipp525 wrote:
Okri wrote:
Hustler wrote:I´ve just seen Slumdog Millionaire and I liked it a lot. There is no comparison with TCCOBB. Boyle´s film is clearly a better film.

Agreed. Fincher knows how to use a camera and all, but his ability to create interesting characters and story is seriously lacking.


I found the characters in Slumdog Millionaire to be rather uninteresting, frankly. This "deep connection" between Jamal and Latika I was supposed to be rooting for felt inorganic and unearned. It's an uplifting story, in a Dickensian way, but the actors weren't skilled enough to convey anything that wasn't on the page.

Even the most stereotypical, stock character in Button (Queenie) had more going on for me than the central pair in Boyle's film. Daisy (and particularly Cate Blanchett's interpretation of her) downright fascinated me.
I just saw this, and you and I are in complete agreement Flipp.
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Post by Zahveed »

I agree with all of what the past few posts had to say. I enjoyed the film while it was going on but I didn't care about it.
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Post by OscarGuy »

I'll chime in on the "I didn't give a rat's ass about the characters" sentiment. Dev Patel was the only interesting part of the movie for me, but I still didn't care that he won. I didn't care that he found true love with a girl that was so vacant and abstract that she didn't even seem like a real person. It was all steamrolling to a conclusion that was entirely expected, but didn't feel earned. I found the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire framing device interesting and thought some of the question-to-story connections were interesting, but I didn't like 90% of the characters.

That being said, I think Slumdog is more an achievement of Editing and Directing than it is of acting, screenwriting or anything else.
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Post by Bog »

The acting sure didn't help these supposed interesting characters in my opinion...so painful to watch

I didn't find any of it interesting per se, but I found that hard once it became apparent the film was gonna be an unstoppable brute force on its way to "it is written" no matter how illogical or unbelievable.




Edited By Bog on 1234448262
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Post by flipp525 »

Okri wrote:
Hustler wrote:I´ve just seen Slumdog Millionaire and I liked it a lot. There is no comparison with TCCOBB. Boyle´s film is clearly a better film.

Agreed. Fincher knows how to use a camera and all, but his ability to create interesting characters and story is seriously lacking.


I found the characters in Slumdog Millionaire to be rather uninteresting, frankly. This "deep connection" between Jamal and Latika I was supposed to be rooting for felt inorganic and unearned. It's an uplifting story, in a Dickensian way, but the actors weren't skilled enough to convey anything that wasn't on the page.

Even the most stereotypical, stock character in Button (Queenie) had more going on for me than the central pair in Boyle's film. Daisy (and particularly Cate Blanchett's interpretation of her) downright fascinated me.




Edited By flipp525 on 1234450910
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Post by Okri »

Hustler wrote:I´ve just seen Slumdog Millionaire and I liked it a lot. There is no comparison with TCCOBB. Boyle´s film is clearly a better film.
Agreed. Fincher knows how to use a camera and all, but his ability to create interesting characters and story is seriously lacking.

Remember at the beginning of the Oscar race when Sabin mentioned he had a hard time seeing Slumdog with more than four nods? Seems like lifetimes ago.
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Post by Jim20 »

I see 5 wins for Slumdog Millionaire:

Picture
Director (Danny Boyle)
Adapted Screenplay
Film Editing
Original Song



That's it...at the least.
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Post by Hustler »

I´ve just seen Slumdog Millionaire and I liked it a lot. There is no comparison with TCCOBB. Boyle´s film is clearly a better film.
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Post by Zahveed »

If Benjamin Button turns out to be an upset in the shadow of Slumdog, I'm all for everyone crying.
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Post by OscarGuy »

Who could have seen the prevailing wind behind Brokeback Mountain die down? But, it did.
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Post by Bog »

It is odd, I agree Franz...at least it isn't A Beautiful Mind or Crash like Sabin stated early on in the race. But I also don't recall those 2 films having this kind of wind at their backs. Things can change but there aren't other options...minds won't change in order to award Button, that seems even less likely, yet it is seemingly the only other contender.

I'm hoping over the next 6 weeks Penelope et al. can bring me over to the side that can respect Slumdog as a winner and not see it as totally embarrassing which is where we're at currently.

I always do the Oscar showcase that AMC offers the day before the show, so I will get a chance to see and evaluate the film again, 3 months after viewing it the first time around.
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Post by Franz Ferdinand »

I still don't see what it is about the movie aside from its "feel-good/fantasy" angle. I would never nominate the acting in the weakest of years, the sets and sound aren't particularly interesting - the only thing it has going for it is the story and directing. I would say it will get nods for:
-Picture
-Director
-Adapted Screenplay
-Cinematography
-Score
And then what? Hardly the heavyweight past Oscar frontrunners have been. I am getting disillusioned with this past year in movies when Slumdog is running away with the race with seemingly so little to offer.
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Post by MovieWes »

Once an underdog, `Slumdog' is now a heavyweight

By JAKE COYLE,AP
Entertainment Writer AP - Wednesday, January 14

NEW YORK - In May, "Slumdog Millionaire" appeared headed for that shameful scrap heap of movies: a direct-to-video release.

But with the film's four-award sweep at the Golden Globes on Sunday, Danny Boyle's romance has completed the same rags-to-riches trajectory of its main character. Like the underdog success of Jamal Malik _ a poor kid from the slums of Mumbai who becomes a flawless contestant on India's "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire _ "Slumdog" is an unlikely triumph.

"This could turn into a $100 million movie now," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media by Numbers. "It's like the snowball effect."

Its win at the Golden Globes will help secure its future, both as a box office success and as a major player at the Oscars, which will announce its nominees next Thursday.

"It really gives the film credibility to people who maybe didn't know that much about it or didn't understand it," Dergarabedian said. "Suddenly, this is like the stamp of approval. It creates a situation where people are going to have to see this film."

It also assures that Fox Searchlight will reinvest in marketing and expand the film's release to capitalize on its success. Spokespeople at Fox Searchlight declined to comment on the studio's plans Monday.

Slumdog was filmed in India with a budget of only $14 million and has no big-name actors, and about a fifth of it is in Hindi.

"We really weren't expecting to be here in America at all at one point so it's just amazing to be standing here," said screenwriter Simon Beaufoy while accepting his Golden Globe Sunday.

But since the film's November limited release in 10 theaters, it has made $34 million, garnered excellent reviews, strong word-of-mouth and numerous awards. The honors include the audience award at the Toronto Film Festive and best picture from the National Board of Review, an early harbinger of the Academy Awards.

"Slumdog" was originally to be released by Warner Independent Pictures, but Warner Bros. closed that branch last year _ leading to dim prospects for "Slumdog," including a potential DVD-only release. But Fox Searchlight picked it up and is sharing costs and revenue with Warner Bros.

The studio, a boutique division of 20th Century Fox owned by News Corp., has been here before. It has engineered the unlikely awards campaigns for small independent films like "Sideways," "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Juno," all of which were nominated for Best Picture by the Academy. None of them won the top film award.

All took on a similar David-verse-Goliath image at the Oscars and went on to make a lot of money. "Sideways" eventually made $72 million, "Little Miss Sunshine" took in $60 million and "Juno" made $143 million.

"Slumdog" is currently in 601 theaters and has never been in more than 614 theaters in its nine weeks of release. (By contrast, "Bride Wars" opened in 3,226 theaters last weekend.)

Still, it has continued, for the most part, to stay among the top 10 box office moneymakers. Last weekend, it earned a $6,206 average per screen, a very good number for a movie that's been out for two months.

The slow, gradual release strategy has been paying dividends for many of this year's awards contenders. Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino" led the box office this past weekend with a gross of $29 million after several weeks of limited release.

With low-budget awards-contenders like these enjoying box office success, suddenly the prospects of independent film don't look quite so apocalyptic as they did when divisions like Warner Independent and Picturehouse were shuttering.

"It's fantastic for us to have had this kind of platform," said Boyle, whose previous films include "Trainspotting" and "28 Days Later." "It gets journalists all perked up. It works in so many different ways. It's an amazing vehicle for this kind of film _ and this kind of film is under pressure, as we know. The indie distribution is in real crisis."

The Globes are far from a perfect predictor of the Oscars, though. And "Slumdog" almost certainly benefited from the more international outlook of the Hollywood Foreign Press voters.

But "Slumdog" no longer seems like much of an underdog.

"`Slumdog' has all the momentum right now. It's the film to beat," said Tom O'Neil, a columnist for the awards Web site TheEnvelope.com. "It's captured Oscar voters' hearts. Many of the voters I've spoken to have watched their DVD screeners six or seven times."

Weeks ago _ when such plaudits seemed pure fantasy _ Boyle joked of the film's awards chances: "Obviously, we've got to win every single category. Obviously. And put `Titanic' to sleep for once and for all."

After winning in all four categories it was nominated for at the Globes, that no longer seems quite so farfetched.
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Post by Precious Doll »

Haven't seen Milk yet.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Slumdog Millionaire
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